Rafferty: Town parks look overdue for makeover

Published 6:25 pm, Friday, September 20, 2013

My 99-year-old grandmother still can't believe I live in Greenwich. As a school principal who's lived her whole life either in Brooklyn or Queens, Greenwich was somehow beyond the reach of mortals. Childhood drives to Milford would be punctuated with the names of tycoons and stars living here, one assumed, in a life of gracious luxury. At the time it conjured images of men in tuxedos taking in the polo matches, and it wouldn't be until I moved here myself that I truly realized what Greenwich really is, a haven for young families.

So what then to make of the news that Greenwich is ranked just outside the top 10 of the most kid-saturated towns in Connecticut? The raw numbers say that more than 27 percent of all Greenwich residents are under 18. Take the rankings into account however, and you find that Greenwich trails many of the towns we tend to compare ourselves to in terms of attracting new families with young children. Now, in 2012 the average age of a Greenwich resident was 42.7, indicating a lot of opportunity for families with school age children, but that's up from 41.8 in 2010. So if we're trending a little older, and public school enrollment shows signs of slipping, are we really the young family mecca we believe we are?

Yes. Redistricting and racial imbalance discussions aside, our schools still provide an attractive public education, our streets are safe, the commute just isn't that bad and you can't beat the views. But there is one element that may be working against us: our fields, facilities and athletic opportunities.

See, when that study came out, it focused on the athletic and extra-curricular activities available to young families, and it may have pointed to an inconvenient truth. Towns with acres of open space used for sports and recreation are a big part of what parents seek out when looking to settle down and Greenwich, well, let's just say our facilities leave something to be desired.

A couple of years ago, the OGRCC baseball program was rained out five Saturdays in one season, an amazing number when you realize it wasn't raining for four of those days. The fields never dried from earlier in the week. Visiting soccer coaches know which Greenwich fields are so rutted and pockmarked that they can challenge officials to get games moved. We have one undersized town pool, hardly something we're proud of; and a civic center on the east side of town that depending on who you listen to is either collapsing or just disgracefully rundown. Then there's the painfully slow-developing Cos Cob power plant project, which might have provided multiple modern athletic and recreational opportunities, if local opposition hadn't beaten it down to a fraction of what it could have been.

Through local public and private efforts, we do a bang-up job of preserving woodlands; defending our natural habitats and making sure our green spaces are maintained for the quiet enjoyment of all residents. That's great for Parks, but what about the Recreation? I mean, there are local grumps who still "harrumph" at the idea of playgrounds, much less ballfields. But the vast majority of us really do want their kids playing outside locally when it's nice, and playing inside when it's cold and rainy in great, modern recreational facilities.

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Speaking with people on this topic elicits frustration and ultimately, resignation. Statements like, "I want my kids to play in the community, but I'll just go to Chelsea Piers." Or join travel teams anywhere from Westport to Westchester. And that's just sad. When folks move out here half the fun is developing a sense of belonging. As a coach I know that kids and their parents take pride in wearing the GREENWICH on their uniform. But we certainly don't make it easy with limited field access, no lights for evening games or practices, nearly non-existent indoor facilities and sometimes wretched field conditions. And why? Because the loud, stubborn minority plays the long game, waits for kids to grow up, and parents to give up the fight. But my ear to the ground hears it's time for the next round, starting with the Eastern Civic Center. Buckle up.